Anthony Whishaw was born in London in 1930. He studied at Chelsea School of Art (1948–1952) and the Royal College of Art, London (1952–1955), where he became an Associate of the Royal College of Art (first class honours) and was awarded the RCA Travelling Scholarship, an Abbey Minor Scholarship and a Spanish Government Scholarship. Between 1958 and 1992, he taught occasionally at Chelsea School of Art and St Martin’s School of Art.
His early works were oil-based paintings, but once he discovered the possibilities of acrylic paints in the early 1970s, he never looked back. This is possibly because the medium better suits his conception of painting.
Whishaw never adhered to a movement or style because he is fully dedicated to art’s creative purpose rather than representative capability: ‘the aim of art is the fusion of ideas and experiences with the qualities of the art medium so the artist creates a new reality. The medium becomes the work of art. The work of art is a world in itself at the same time as of the world’.
As art sets its own demands, Whishaw’s work is one of compromise, precariously sat at the edge of representation. Between memory and experience, illusion and allusion, past and present, it reconciles all that art has to offer into a personal proposition.
His first solo show was held at the Librería Abril in Madrid in 1956. He subsequently had regular exhibitions at Roland, Browse and Delbanco, London, throughout the 1960s and went on to have numerous solo shows throughout the UK at venues including the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (1971), the Oxford Gallery, Oxford (1978), Newcastle Polytechnic Art Gallery (1979); Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge (1982), the Royal Academy of Arts (1987); Royal West of England Academy, Bristol (1993); the Barbican Centre and tour (1994), and Stephen Lacey Gallery (2000), among others.
More recently, he has exhibited with: Art in Focus, ‘Illusions and Horizons’, Imperial Health Charity touring exhibition, St Mary’s Hospital, London (& various London hospital locations) (2020-2021); Works on Paper: Small paintings and sketches, online exhibition (2020); With Spain in Mind, The Royal Academy of Arts, London (2020); 90th Birthday Celebration Exhibition, online exhibition (2020); Works on Paper, Browse & Darby, London (2020); Forces of Nature, Mishcon de Reya, London (2017-2020); Experiences of Nature, Canwood Gallery, Herefordshire (2018); Woodland Encounters, Art Space Gallery, London (2016); and Anthony Whishaw RA: Paintings from the Mid-1960s – 2015, Browse & Darby, London (2016).
Whishaw’s personal approach to painting has been acknowledged through various awards, including: the Royal College of Art Drawing Prize (1954), Perth International Drawing Biennale Prize (1973), South East Arts Association Painting Prize (1975), Arts Council of Great Britain Award (1978), Greater London Council Painting Prize (1981), Abbey Premier Scholarship (1982), John Moores Minor Painting Prize (1982), Lorne Scholarship (1982-1983), Joint winner of the Hunting Group National Art Competition (1986), and Korn Ferry Carre Oban International Picture of the Year in 1996.
Whishaw lives and works in London.
